In this study we developed a program(DEVSIM) to simulate the two dimensional distribution of the electrostatic potential and the electric field of the arbitrary structure consisting of GaAs/AlGaAs semiconductor and metal as well as dielectric. By the comparision of the electric field distribution of GaAs MESFETs with the various recess gates we proposed a suitable device structure to improve the breakdown characteristics of MESFET. According to the results of simulation the breakdown characteristics were improved as the thickness of the active epitaxial layer was decreased. And the planar structure, which had the highly doped layer under the drain for the ohmic contact, was the worst because the highly doped layer prevented the space charge layer below the gate from extending to the drain, which produced the narrow spaced distribution of the electrostatic potential contours resulting in the high electric field near the drain end. Instead of the planar structure with the highly doped drain the recess gate structure having the highly doped epitaxial drain layer show the better breakdown characteristics by allowing the extention of the space charge layer to the drain. Especially, the structure in which the part of the drain epitaxial layer near the gate show the more improvement of the breakdown characteristics.